The truck is my cousin’s urn. He was a trucker his whole life. This is the platform I made for the pall bearers to carry the urn on. My cousin was a very good man and will be greatly missed by all that knew him.

Hi Everyone,

I’m sorry I haven’t posted a blog in the last couple of weeks.  My cousin died at the end of February.  His family asked me to make a platform to carry his ashes on.  That has kept me very busy and away from the computer.  But I am back now and ready to share some thoughts and stories with you.

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Chapter One: Introducing Bob and Betty

3/19/2014

Some said that Betty and Bob were high school sweethearts.  That wasn’t exactly true.  They did start dating in high school but their story started many years earlier.

Every summer all the churches from their affiliation sponsored a youth camp for a week.  Kids from all over the state came to the camp to learn more about Jesus and how to live for Christ.  Bob first saw Betty one summer at the church’s pre-teen summer camp. 

Bob was walking towards the baseball game with his friend, Cal.  It was free time and some of the kids were going to play baseball.

As they walked along, Bob heard a girl laughing and turned to look at her.  Something about her touched Bob.  He told Cal that he was going to marry that girl someday.

Cal laughed at him.  ‘’You’re only 14 and already thinking of getting married.  And to her.  Look she’s got knobby knees and freckles all over her face.  You’re goofy.’’

‘’That may be, Cal.  But there is something about the look in her eyes that shows she is someone special.’’

Cal gave Bob a playful shove.  ‘’Man, forget about girls.  Let’s go play ball.’’

They headed to the game.  But Bob’s mind wasn’t totally thinking about baseball.  He missed catching a couple of easy catches which resulted in some razzing from his teammates. 

During the last few days of camp, Bob tried talking to Betty a few times.  But he would get shy and start to stutter or mumble.  Or it seemed her friends were around when he could talk clearly.  Then the friends would tease Betty about her boyfriend.  That made Betty and Bob both turn red and ended any conversation they might have had.

The week ended and Bob hadn’t even found out where she was from.  He barely even got to ask her name.

Bob would forget about her somewhat during the year when he was busy with school and life.  But he would look for Betty at the church camps each summer he went.  But he didn’t see again her since that first time. 

After a couple of years of not seeing her at church camp either, he had nearly forgotten about her altogether.

It was junior year of high school when Bob met Betty again.

One morning Bob was in the school office.  He needed to get a minor’s work permit for the job he had.  As he stood at the counter, he heard a couple of girls enter the school office.  One of them was laughing.

Something clicked in Bob’s memory.  He knew that laugh.  He heard it before.  He turned around and there stood Betty.

‘’Betty?’’  Bob asked.

Betty looked a little uneasy at this young man knowing her name.  ‘’Yes, I’m Betty.  Do I know you?’’

Bob smiled broadly.  ‘’You might not remember me.  We went to church camp together when we were 14.  I would try talking to you and would stutter or mumble.’’

Betty smiled.  ‘’Now I remember you.  But, I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name.’’

‘’I’m Bob.’’  He laughed a little.  ‘’I’m not surprised you didn’t remember.  I couldn’t have made a very good impression.’’

The school secretary interrupted to give Bob his work permit.

Bob continued, ‘’I don’t recall seeing you at the camps following that one year, though.’’

‘’No, my dad got transferred out of state for his job.  We just moved back here for his new job, so I am here to register for my classes.’’

‘’Super,’’ Bob exclaimed a little too loudly.  It made the girls giggle and Bob blushed slightly.  ‘’I look forward to seeing you around school more.’’ He said more quietly.

They did see each other around school and church more.  Betty’s family started attending the same church as Bob’s family.  The two teenagers were in the same youth group at church.  They also were in many of the same classes at school.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to decide they liked spending time together.  They shared similar interests.  And even more importantly, the same values.  They were both Christians and wanted to put Christ first in their lives.  Together, they formed a Bible study for their classmates at school.

Their friends saw them as a couple long before Bob and Betty realized it themselves.  They were always just going out ‘’as friends’’.   Neither could deny the attraction they felt towards the other.  The attraction blossomed into full-blown love.

They got married a year after they graduated from high school.  Their parents had asked them to do this.  They just wanted the two lovebirds to have a little time to get established in school or work before they married.  That way they could build up a little money for the wedding and life as well.

Cal was Bob’s best man at the wedding.  As they stood at the front of the church waiting for the wedding to start, Cal teased Bob about finally getting to marry that knobby knee, freckled girl.

Bob’s face shined with pure happiness.  ‘’Yep, Cal.  Who would have thought something said by some silly 14-year-old kid would actually come true.’’

Now it is five years later.  Two children with one on the way.  Bob works maintenance at the local factory.  He makes money enough so Betty can stay home if she wants.  But she works part-time at a daycare center for children.  Bob teases that she doesn’t have enough children at home so she goes to work with more children.

They sit across from each other at the table.  Bob still has that goofy smile on his face that he had the first time he saw Betty.  They are still very much in love as we will see in new stories.

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This is just a little glimpse into this couple.  We will get to know Bob and Betty more as time goes by.  They will have many adventures and experiences in their lives together.  And we will get to join them on their adventures.

I hope you liked this little story.  If so, please hit the like button below and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss next week’s blog.